Chicken and Mushroom Croquettes

Croquettes: Melt the butter in a saucepan and cook the shallot until tender. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the flour and stir over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Combine the milk and chicken stock and gradually whisk into the flour. Season and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the nutmeg, chicken and flat-leaf parsley. Tip into a lightly greased shallow dish and cool. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

To cook: Form into 4 cm long croquettes. Roll them in flour then in the egg, allowing the excess to drip off. Roll in the breadcrumbs, coating well. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Heat a heavy-based saucepan with 4 cm of oil until 170°C on a sugar thermometer or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 20 seconds. Fry a few croquettes at a time until golden. Drain on paper towels and keep warm until all are cooked.

To finish: Purée the capsicum until smooth. Season. Combine the mayonnaise and garlic and season.

To serve: Arrange the croquettes on a serving plate and top each one with a little aioli and capsicum purée. Serve immediately. Makes about 24